


Entwining Spirits

by xuxxinct



Category: Guardians of Childhood & Related Fandoms, Rise of the Guardians (2012), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bunnymund and Jack are tom and jerry, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Humor, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Nick Fury is Not Amused, Not Canon Compliant, Pitch is a Bitch, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2021-01-30 14:33:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21429781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xuxxinct/pseuds/xuxxinct
Summary: When the Guardians defeated Pitch, he was dragged off into whatever hellish depths awaited him by his own Nightmares. That was the last anyone's ever seen of him. As the years passed, things slowly returned back to the way it was. Of course, they didn't write Pitch off for good—look what happened the last time they did that. But even if he did come back stronger, they were always ready for him. Or so they thought.Unbeknownst to them, Pitch had gained new allies, ones that were far, far greater than what their job descriptions entailed. What really was one to do when facing an angry, bitter god intent on destroying mankind? Or some alien creatures with horrible delusions of reality? How in the world were they supposed to deal with that? Luckily there's a one-eyed pirate who seems equipped enough to deal with the problem.Or: Loki falls through the Abyss and instead of meeting the Mad Titan he encounters Pitch.
Relationships: E. Aster Bunnymund & Jack Frost & Nicholas St. North & Sanderson Mansnoozie & Toothiana, Jack Frost (Guardians of Childhood) & Tony Stark
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> One day, xuxxinct had a revelation that there weren't nearly enough Avengers x ROTG fics. So she made one. Unfortunately for poor readers on this site, the author is unreliable, doesn't update often, and pulls shitey chapters out her arse. Nonetheless, here we go. May our braincells multiply and be fruitful for 2020.
> 
> Timelines have been modified.

# before

* * *

Time, it seemed, had forsaken him—along with everything else. It dripped slowly, maddeningly so, like honey oozing from a narrow spout. Once upon a time, it had been sweet. So delectable and tantalizing. He had savored every little moment time permitted, turning fear over and over, feeling the moment of pleasure overtake his senses.

Now the taste was poison on his tongue.

He screamed out as the blasted Nightmares invaded his mind again, piercing through like a needle to the brain. His voice came out thin and harsh, a high-pitched, painful sound that grated on the soul.

It was a curious thing, Pitch thought dully, that his voice had yet to give out. He had been screaming for centuries it seemed like. Agonizingly slow centuries of darkness and fear, reminiscent of a memory long forgotten in the abyss of his mind.

All he could do was lie there paralyzed and curled up, eyes closed so to not make contact with those glowing eyes, a reminder of what had been and, now, mocked his weakness, his failure.

It didn’t make a difference. His imagination did the dirty work; springing from the depths was a golden figure: Sandman’s haughty gaze bore into his, a disgusting smirk on the little man’s face. _You stupid thing_, it leered. _You will never be believed in. This world is no longer yours._ And then he was raising his hand, raising the golden whip high above to once more strike and—

Pitch’s eyes flew open as he gasped in pain. The Nightmares pooling around him nickered in delight at his torment. An endless cycle.

_Traitors_. The word sprang bitterly, but slightly amused as well.

If it wasn't for the fact that the victim was himself, Pitch would've been proud of the devilish creatures. It was like watching your own children grow up. Only that it included being a pain the arse at any chance. They were doing what they were made to do.

And wonderfully so, might Pitch add, judging from his oh so terrible experience being the full-course meal for the beasts. It wasn’t their fault.

It was the Guardians’.

More specifically, Jack Frost. Really, he had everything planned out. He spent centuries biding his time, years and years of perfecting his art, putting everything in place. He knew just how to strike at the Guardians' weaknesses.

Once Sandman was out of the picture, there was nothing left to stop him. Jack Frost would’ve been an additional bonus, his reward for waiting so long, so patiently. He put his faith in that.

Of course, that was his downfall. Of course, he couldn’t trust the stupid sprite, who turned out to be much more powerful than he imagined. And he was already corrupted into the whole rubbish franchise of catering to the whims and desires of petty children. It was also Pitch’s fault really, to believe that others could simply have the same vision as him. A bunch of weirdos they all were.

_(Break their minds—)_

That was probably why the plan didn’t work, Pitch decided. Using Sandman’s dreams against him was a fabulous idea but flawed. He should’ve known it was a two-way street, that the dreams could become Nightmares and the Nightmares back to dreams.

Well, then again, how could he have known? But he knew now. He knew a lot more now. Maybe it was for the best that he failed. It was a sign that he was going about things wrong. He had been focusing too hard on the children, and if he was being honest, his hurt at being overshadowed and forgotten.

He needed to look at the bigger picture. There was no room for something as menial as self-pity.

_(Take everything back—)_

No matter the children. It would be the whole world quaking in the palm of his hand. Every human and every creature that roamed the earth would fall before him in terror and pain and suffering.

Everything he'd been put through, every wrongdoing against him would be repaid a thousand times over. The Nightmares had been a nice little experiment, but a failure, nonetheless.

_(Consume—_)

He needed more.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> North goes SOS. Jack is a little shite.

# one

_Ten years after the Battle at Burgess..._

* * *

"HAHAH-"

Smack!

The kid goes tumbling backwards as a snowball hits him in the face. Jack chuckles and sends another snowball along the way before diving and leaping into another area for a better vantage. He had been responsible for starting the snowball fight earlier between the kids. How could he resist? A group of bored kids outside in winter. They were practically begging for him to unleash his powers onto them. 

Being the Guardian of Fun had its perks for sure. Did Bunnymund get to throw snowballs at kids in the name of the Greater Good? Of course not. He was probably seething with jealousy—or not, considering the Pooka got soft when it came to children and wasn't that just hilarious? (He ignored the voice in his head that scoffs at him, _You’re exactly the same. _)

He notices one child—new to the neighborhood and still shy and hesitant—shuffling on the side and grins. A flick of his finger sends his signature snowflake at her face. As planned, the sparkles fade away into her eyes and she begins to join in with a light in her eyes, giggling softly at first before eventually laughing and shrieking as the others retaliate. 

She has a wicked aim, Jack notes proudly, and a sweet smile that reveals a missing tooth. Looking at that, he makes a mental reminder to stop by the Tooth Palace and visit the Fairies. It's been more than a month since he saw them—with the exception of Baby Tooth, who hung around Jack so much Tooth often joked she lost a Fairy to his charms. Considering the mini-fairies were some weird extension of Tooth herself (how that worked, Jack didn’t know), didn’t that mean Tooth just outed herself? Not that her obsession with his teeth didn’t already do that, but...

"Sonia! Lenny! You're going to get a cold!" Jack turns his head as a middle-aged lady bustles out one of the homes. Her words are lost on the kids, who barely give her a glance. Jack hopes one of them will be bold enough to throw a snowball at her. 

Another lady standing outside, thick shawl wrapped around her plump frame, laughs, "Diane, honey, it's winter. Horrid for us old hags, sure, but it's a good time for the kids to play and bond. I still remember the snow days back in my time. Was such fun, I'm telling you."

Jack smirks and nods in approval, "Now you're a smart one." She was probably one of the many children he played with some decades ago. The other mother, Diane, just sighs. "When the brats are all sniffling and complaining, I'll be knocking at your door, Maria."

"And I'll have my hot chocolate piping hot and ready."

The two smile at each other before gazing at the kids. Jack flies over and joins them, nodding along and chiming in as they exchange stories and gossip. The sure amount of information wives knew... well, he knew who would be his spies if he ever needed any.

He begins to lose interest when they start discussing knitting, not that it wasn't a perfectly acceptable pastime activity but his attention span can barely handle five minutes of which loop goes into what loop (aren't they all the same?) and moves to join the kids when he hears a shout, "Look at the sky!"

He whips his head up, shock blossoming across his face and the _oohs _and _ahhs _fading into the background as he takes in the tell-tale kaleidoscopic message issued by North:

_Fellow Guardians, it has not been long since we were at peace. I had placed my hopes that this would come to pass for another century give or take. But trouble is brewing and we are once again called up to protect the children of this world. As Guardians, this is our duty and our joy. I urge you to come as soon as possible!_

Jack frowns, the high slowly draining out as he leans on his staff and mulls over the message. It’s been barely a decade since the last 'trouble' occurred. North wouldn’t bop the panic button unless it was really out of his power.

"Pitch?" The name springs out like a dark omen. "It can't be..." Head shaking, he grabs his staff and flips it. His chest fills with air as he summons the winds.

"Take me to North."

* * *

With the winds, the flight went quickly. Jack smiles as he starts to see a certain glittering on a snowy top. A symbol of a snowflake marked the entrance, _his _specific entrance, to North’s Workshop. Before he became a Guardian, he was never able to get into the place, guarded by Yetis with entrances tightly sealed. After the battle with Pitch, however, they worked out a way. 

Well, more like he did. North wanted to just use the same old Yeti-kidnapping-him-in-a-sack tactic because it was 'quick' and 'convenient.' Jack asked for some of the Magic Globes, but North immediately shot the idea down because “knowing you, you'd use them to pull stunts that disrupt the whole place." Jack hadn't actually thought of it at the time, but it did sound like something he'd do.

After a joke from Jack to “Make a VIP entrance” and a surprising “Okey-dokey” from North, they settled on making a personal entrance-way for Jack. He really could have just gone through any of the regular entrances now that he was off the North-says-go-away-list, but North had insisted that Jack deserved something special of his own, and Jack couldn't help but feel a pulse of warmth at the old Russian, understanding the silent apology underneath the generous offer. Perhaps he should start bugging Bunny for a century or two until he got his own lil something as well. Maybe Bunny could get him his own egg golem?

Jack touches down onto the ground. With a wave of his staff, a mound of snow flies away, revealing the circular hole deep in the center. 

North really didn’t do things by halves. Truly, the tinkerer of Jack's heart. The entrance-way began from the very top of the mountain that North’s Workshop encompassed, and spiraled down into the core of the place. Essentially, one big slide from start to finish. 

For this reason alone, Jack gleefully dubbed it the JackSlide 300. (Yes, he named it after himself and the century he met the Guardians. No, he was not sentimental.)

The most important part, though, lay in the fact that Jack had complete control over it. The initial beginnings of the project, cutting through the mountain, came from North and his team of Yetis. But afterwards, it was Jack who fashioned the inside, smoothed stone with layers of ice and coated the top with patterns of frost. It was Jack’s magic that covered the opening of the entrance-way with ice and snow and made it virtually indistinguishable from above. And it was only Jack who had the ability to uncover and cover it.

For the finishing touch, Jack formed a large snowflake into the ground next to the entrance-way and infused his power into it. It looked like another heap of snow among the vast winter slopes. But to him and the other Guardians, the magic would sparkle, outlining his sign.

As he leaps in the hole, another wave of his staff sent the snow back to how it was. The JackSlide 300 dropped downwards, steep enough to rival the roller coasters of theme parks, before eventually splitting off to two tunnels.

He leans into the right, heading to the ground floor (the other went directly to North's office). It was much faster than going through the main entrance and taking the lift all the way down. And if Jack was being honest, just more fun. (Even if entering the main entrance and stepping into the world of the toys and gadgets never ceased to fill him with wonder.) 

Jack grins and greets the Yetis as he passes by. They were hard at work and gave him mere grunts. He saves the mental image of one of the Yetis carefully painting a wooden doll’s dress. Within his giant hands, it was even more tiny and the intense look of concentration on his face almost makes Jack burst into laughter.

“Too slow,” a deep voice spoke as Jack steps into the Globe Room. Jack turns and there was the Pooka leaning smugly against the wall. Jack scowls, “And how long were you here?”

“Fifteen minutes ago, Frostbite. Had time to finish painting a batch of googies before I left too.”

“As if. An old kangaroo like you being able to hop along that fast?”

“Obviously because I'm not a dangly kangaroo.”

“Yeah, you're louder and more obnoxious.”

“Takes one to know one, don't it?”

“Children, children, we are in the middle of something important. Keep the fighting somewhere else, no?” North intervenes. His tone was light, but they could read the underlying message, _We have serious business._

“Sorry,” They both apologized. _Not really_, they both thought. Jack gave a _screw you _face to Bunny, not caring if he was being childish (because Bunny was a child sometimes), and walks off to survey the Globe. 

He shoots a look over his back after confirming that there were no signs of the Lights disappearing. “Sooo why'd you call us, North? Was it...Pitch again? The Lights flickering?”

North shakes his head, “No, no but...Wait until the others get here first."

It wasn't long before Tooth burst in with a “Hey everyone! Am I late? What's going on? Look! Anna got her first tooth out. A perfect canine. Isn't it adorable?” and Sandy right afterwards, a flurry of hand signs waving above him. Jack greets the golden figure, laughing as some elves scurried off as soon as they saw the little Guardian, no doubt remembering what happened to the elves that get caught by him. None of them wanted to be jingled.

“Jack! So good to see you again. How's your teeth? Let me take a look. I thought you said you were going to visit?” Tooth already had her fingers in his mouth before he could speak. Old habits die hard. 

At North’s quick reprimand of “Tooth,” she sighs and retracts her fingers from his mouth. She hovers in front of him expectantly, eyes mesmerizing and bright. Her fairies chatter noisily in agreement. One even put her hands on her hip, as if to scold him.

Jack grins sheepishly, “Yeah, it’s been a while. And hey, I was actually planning on doing so after my work was done, you know. The kid I was with has a missing tooth. Kinda reminded me of you.”

Tooth laughs, feathers preening, “Alright alright, if you say so. A missing tooth, hm? Couldn't be due to another sledding accident, could it?”

“Hey, that was years ago! I’m careful in my work now. I look out for mysterious sofas that fly out of nowhere.” Of course, that was probably indirectly his fault—the truck slid on the ice he’d conjured. But then again, they should’ve latched the back door properly. In a way, he was helping their system from slacking off.

He ignores Bunny’s snort of disbelief and turns to North, “So, North? We’re all here. What’s the big occasion? Is it a celebration of my Snowbunny Army anniversary? Which, if it was, would be very sweet of you guys but you didn’t have to.”

The Snowbunny Army, possibly Jack’s greatest achievement after defeating the boogeyman. It consisted of 18 countries, five bottles of North’s vodka, multiple news coverage, and a Pooka who stewed for months on end afterwards.

Sandy grins and claps his hands in congrats, and Jack shoots a wink to the little man. Tooth looked slightly confused, having been in her Palace during it, but then Baby Tooth goes up to her with a beatific smile and a quick chittering which has Tooth soon giggling in delight. Bunny rolls his eyes and mutters under his breath, probably cursing at him as usual.

North blinks. "I don't know what goes on with a 'Snowbaby Army celebration', but we will celebrate it later with you. But no, I called for a different reason. Word has come around that Pitch has gone missing."

A pause.

"Wait, what do you mean by that? The slimy rat can't have dropped off the face of the earth. Last we checked he had a date with his girls." Bunny scowls.

"That is what we believed, yes. But word is his lair had gone silent. Creatures have whispered that it is abandoned. NightMares have been running wild lately, but we will soon take care of that. Pitch, though, has not been seen anywhere."

"We’ll keep a lookout for him," Tooth speaks up. "I'll notify the other divisions as well."

"I’ll do as much as I can… Easter's coming up soon," Bunny adds. The others nod, understanding Bunny’s situation.

It went without words that Sandy would patrol every night for his old enemy, and Jack would just go about his normal routine of flying the world on his rounds. The two of them were the freest of the Guardians with how their jobs went and had an easier time scouting for danger. Danger went looking for them after all.

"But we also have to keep in mind the possibility...that he has left earth," North says hesitantly. In an instant, Bunny was up and waving about. "You serious? Pitch leaving? He's more obsessed with this place than Jack with his staff."

"Hey, I'm gonna ignore that— But isn't that a good thing though? Him leaving earth I mean."

"No," North and Bunny said simultaneously. North gives Bunny a look that says, _You explain _. Bunny nods and turns to Jack.

"Pitch… hasn't always been on earth. He was here before any of us were, but he's been _around _for a long time, mate. You can't begin to imagine the sheer destructiveness he's planted in his wake back in the day compared to what he's doing now. He may have started out round Earth for kicks, but when we got in his way, he became obsessed. We've managed to weaken him considerably, but that won't ever stop him- never has, never will. In a way, we're keeping him here like a rabid dog on a leash. For him to leave now means he's amassing power. He's changed his tune."

The Pooka was grim, a dark cold expression on his face that Jack has never seen before. Then the words settle in his mind, and Jack is suddenly aware of a lump in his throat. The implications of what Bunny said weren’t making a pretty picture. He feels an uncomfortable prickle down his back and a glance around the room shows the others tensing up as well. And Bunny...

It was hard to remember that Bunnymund was old; it was easy to banter with him, maybe mock some of his grandpa ways with the constant complaining about the cold in his joints, but otherwise the fact slips his mind. Moments like these make him stumble, words failing to form a reply. And while Jack wasn't that young himself, he was practically a fetus compared to the ancient Pooka. 

The other was tight lipped when it came to his past before Earth, but over the stressful days and deep nights he had spilled bits and pieces—enough for Jack to know that the Pooka was: a) The last of his kind and, b) the oldest after Sandy himself. 

That had been one of the turning points in Jack's perception of Bunny, when he'd realized that the Pooka did know the depths of loneliness, that he understood the feeling of being left behind, understood Jack. Maybe he didn’t handle it in the same way as Jack (he had been reckless and emotionally volatile) but the weight of such an existence...there was bound to be times of grief and pain. 

(And If he gained a little more respect for the kangaroo after that revelation, well, no one had to know.)

There was too much gloom and doom in the room, Jack thought idly. That wouldn’t do on his watch. He clears his throat, “So, any idea what kind of tune he’s playing? I gotta have time to prepare the choreo, you know. Not that I can’t freestyle—I mean I can crack some pretty good moves on the spot. The 21st century really has some impressive street performances.” 

North throws his head back and guffaws, “Good to see you’re still the same as ever, Jack. You’d be grinning that cheeky smile of yours in the face of death. Come to think of it, that was what you did the last time, eh?”

Sandman mimics throwing a snowball as sand swirls and forms a comical version of Pitch. At Sandman’s perfect aim, it explodes. Golden streamers fly out and a blinking sign of ‘Congratulations! You won a prize!’ floats above for a brief moment before it disperses. The rest of the Guardians chuckle, and even Bunny loses some of his tension and manages a snort.

“Been hanging round carnivals lately, haven’t you Sandy,” he smirks. The little Guardian shrugs, _fun _said the pictures of Sandy on a ride that swung up and down. Bunny looks faintly nauseous at that. Jack makes a note to bring the Pooka to one of the night carnivals one day. And Tooth, he adds, catching the yearning want on her face.

North claps his hands together, “That is all that for this meeting. Though if you guys want to stay for lunch, well why not? I got the new Girl Scout cookies!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this far ❤ ლ(o◡oლ) Guess who decided to rework this chapter _ again _ instead of focus on writing the next one :D Leave a comment or kudo if you'd like! I'd definitely appreciate it.


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